Facts About Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and Automated External Defibrillators (AED)

The facts about Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA):

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs over 700 times daily in the United States, resulting in approximately 250,000 deaths per year.
The current survival rate for cardiac arrest is less than 5%.
The cause of most cardiac arrests is an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) called ventricular fibrillation.
The normal pumping of blood no longer occurs once ventricular fibrillation begins.
Death usually follows unless responders restore a normal heart rhythm by shocking the heart within 5-7 minutes.
Sudden cardiac arrest can occur at any age. Recent statistics show an alarming number of sudden cardiac deaths among school aged children and young adults.
The Center for Disease Control estimates 3,000 people between the age of 15-34 die of SCA each year.

The facts about Automated External Defibrillators (AED):

An AED is a device used to administer an electric shock through the chest wall to the heart. Built-in computers assess the patient's heart rhythm, judge whether defibrillation is needed and then administer the shock. Audible and/or visual prompts guide the user through this process.
AEDs can restore a normal heart rhythm in sudden cardiac arrest victims.
For each minute without defibrillation, a victim's chance of survival decreases by 7-10 percent.
The ONLY treatment for sudden cardiac arrest is defibrillation. Without this, the victim will die.
Lightweight, portable, affordable AEDs are now available and becoming increasingly common in schools.
Adequate placement of AEDs can potentially save 66,000 lives annually.
Most AEDs are designed to be used by non-medical personnel.
An AED will not deliver a shock unless it is necessary.
Michigan has a Good Samaritan Law which protects persons who voluntarily render emergency care from liability unless they are grossly negligent.
AEDs save lives!
The links or actions in the American Heart Association adult chain of survival are:
- Early access to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system by phoning 911.
- Early CPR.
- Early defibrillation (AED).
- Early advanced care.
(Source: The American Heart Association).